Apparatus for supplying cigarettes to packing machines



Nov. 13, 1951 G. DEARSLEY 2,574,628

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES Filed April 30,1948 10 Sheets-Sheet 1 l l 1 l INVENTOA G. DEARSLEY Nov. 13, 1951APPARATUS FOR S UPPLYING CIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES Filed April 30,1948 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 f y mm yqg r 40% APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYINGCIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES Filed April 50, 1948 G. DEARSLEY Nov. 13,1951 10 Sheets-Sheet 3 NOV. 13, 1951 DEAIRSLEY 2,574,628

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES Filed April 50,1948 l0 Sheets-Sheet 4 wzyw Nov. 13, 1951 DEARSLEY 2,574,628

APPARATUS FOR SUPFLYING CIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES Filed April 50,1948 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 INYE TO Nov. 13, 1951' DEARSLEY 2,574,628

APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES Filed April 30,1948 l0 Sheets-Sheet 6 G. DEARSLEY Nov. 13, I951 APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYINGCIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES iled April 50, 1948 10 Sheets-Sheet '7 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 MMHIHU I l l "hu I wwwfl t G. DEARSLEY Nov. 13, 1951APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CIGARETTES TO PACKING MACHINES Filed April 50,1948 G. DEARSLEY Nov. 13, 1951 A APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CIGARETTES TOPACKING MACHINES l0 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed April 50, 1948 g aw w? G.DEARSLEY Nov. 13, 1951 APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CIGARETTES TO PACKINGMACHINES l0 Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed April 50, 1948 G'eofga -Dears/eyPatented Nov. 13, 1951 APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING CIGARETTES T PACKINGMACHINES George Dearsley, Scarsdale, N. Y., assignor to Molins MachineCompany Limited, London, England, a British company Application April30, 1948, Serial No. 24,398 In Great Britain May 6, 1947 3 Claims.

This invention concerns apparatus for supply-- ing articles (e. g.cigarettes or filter plugs) to a hopper.

When articles are being fed from a hopper it is often desirable toconvey them to the hopper in containers, from which they are dischargedinto the hopper. For example in packing cigarettes at high speeds it isdesirable to deliver the cigarettes from a cigarette-making machine tothe packing machine in containers which are automatically filled on thecigarette-making machine. Again, when cigarettes and filter plugs arebeing assembled to make mouthpiece cigarettes, for example on themachine described in United States Patent No. 2,156,600, in whichcigarettes and plugs respectively are fed from hoppers on the machine,these cigarettes and plugs may be conveyed to the machine in similarcontainers from which they are discharged into their respective hoppers.The invention concerns an apparatus for mechanically handling thesecontainers and delivering their contents into a hopper as required. Forconvenience the word "articles" when used herein shall be taken to meancigarettes, filter plugs, or other rod-like articles, and it is to beunderstood that the hoppers referred to herein are hoppers which areintended to hold such articles arranged so as to be similarly oriented,and that the articles are likewise similarly oriented when in thecontainers referred to.

The apparatus constructed according to the invention is so designed thatthe time necessary for removing an empty container from the dischargingposition and replacing it by a full container is reduced to a minimum.This is effected by arranging the apparatus so that an empty containerhas only to move a distance equal to its thickness from the dischargingposition to permit a full container to replace it, the full containermoving simultaneousl with the empty container.

The containers are provided with removable bottom plates and it onlyrequires a very few seconds for the operator to transfer the containersand remove the bottom plate from the full container as the latterarrives at the discharging position.

If any delay occurs in the transfer of the containers, the hopperbecomes partly empty, and in this case the cigarettes from the containerhave to fall so far that they are liable to become disarranged, thusnecessitating a stoppage of the machine to enable the operator tostraighten the cigarettes again. Apparatus of this kind in relation to apacking machine has been described in 2 British patent specification No.383,382 but the apparatus illustrated supports a large number ofcontainers directly above the machine bed and this arrangement isinconvenient and hinders the observation of the mechanism of themachine.

In the construction described therein there is provided an apparatus forfeeding and supplying articles to a machine hopper comprising a trackadapted to support a number of containers above the level of the machinehopper and located laterally away from the machine (e. g. alongside) atrack leading from the first said track to a further track locateddirectly above the machine and means for moving containers from thefirst track across the second track to the third track. The first trackmay be arranged parallel to the bed of the machine as illustrated hereinthough the precise arrangement depends on the design of the machine, andthe second track arranged at right angles to the first. The third trackis parallel to the first and is preferably short so that only two orthree containers are supported by it. Movement of containers along thethird track may be ell'ected manually (e. g. by a lever) while movementsalong the other tracks may be effected b power, for example by motordriven conveyors. Automatically operated switches may control themovements of the motors or in a purely mechanical drive, clutches may beused.

The invention will be more fully described with reference to theaccompanying drawings which show its application to a well known type ofpacking machine.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus showing its position withrespect to the hopper of a cigarette-packing machine.

Figures 1A and 1B together form a view which is identical in allrespects with Figure 1 except that the parts are drawn to a largerscale.

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1.

Figures 2A and 23 together form a view which is identical in allrespects with Figure 2 except that the parts are drawn to a largerscale.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 1 looking in the direction of thearrow A.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of part of Figure 2 looking in thedirection of the arrow B.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan showing the location of the apparatuswith respect to a packing machine.

Figure 6 is a section of part of Figure 1 on the line VIVI.

Referring first to Figure 5 the packing machine comprises a bed I alongwhich pushers 2 mountamgeas ed on an endless conveyor (not shown) moveand receive cigarettes from a hopper 3 supported above the bed. Thehopper 3 as viewed from above is in the shape of a long rectangular boxand extends transversely of the bed and as seen in Figure it is disposednear one end of the bed.

In Figure 5 there are also shown a number of cigarette containers ofrectangular plan drawn in broken lines. Those marked C are full ofcigarettes, while one marked C is empty. The containers are also partlyindicated by broken lines in Figures 1, 1A and 1B.

Referring also to Figures 1 to 4 a pair of guide rails i constituting atrack, called herein the third track, are mounted some distance abovethe bed of the packing machine directly over it and parallel thereto andsuitably arranged so .that a full container C Figure 5 positioned at P.lon rails {46 may be moved a distance substantially equal to itsthickness to position P2 on the rails l whereupon it stands verticallyabove the hopper 3 of the packing machine, into which its contents maybe discharged.

The movement is effected by a suitable hand operated lever 5 (Figures 1,1A and 3) fixed to a shaft 6 journalled in the frame 7 of the apparatus.Levers 8 are fixed to the shaft and are connected by links ii to leversit pivoted at it to the frame 7. The upper ends of the levers id havepushplates i2 fixed to them which engage and move the container. Themovement, see Figure 5, of a full container into the dischargingposition causes another (empty) container to move from the dischargingposition to a removal position R3 where it is marked 0 second containerC is empty, having previously discharged its contents into the packingmachine hopper and its movement is efiected by the movement of the firstcontainer from R9 to P2 which merely pushes it along the rails 41 awayfrom the discharging position. The removal position is between thehopper and the neighbouring end of the bed of the packing machine wherenormally an attendant stands whose duty it is to fill the hopper andlevel the cigarettes in it before emptying a fresh container into it. Inthe present case the attendant is further required to feed forward afresh full container at the appropriate time as determined by thequantity of cigarettes in the hopper, remove the bottom plate of thecontainer to allow the cigarettes to discharge into the hopper and placethe bottom plate in the preceding empty container and to dispose of thelatter.

The position P.i occupied by the first container prior to the movementsdescribed above is immediately occupied by another full container whichis moved into position in the following manner.

Another pair of guide rails iii are disposed parallel to the pair 3 butdisplaced laterally therefrom and occupy a position parallel to themachine bed but far enough removed therefrom to permit easy accessthereto by the machine operator and easy observation of the mechanism.This pair of rails l3 which constitutes a track called herein the firsttrack are at the same level as the pair 4 and transverse rails i tpreviously referred to, connect one end of the pair 43 with that end ofthe pair 4 onto which the first said full container is moved. Thetransverse rails l4 constitute another track called herein the secondtrack.

The transverse rails 4 are much narrower than the others sincecontainers move endwise when making the transverse movement from thefirst This track to the third track whereas they move directions normalto their broad sides on the other rails l and i3.

The pair of rails 53 extend from the junction with the transverse rails54 to any suitable distance, the length depending on the location of themachine and the factory layout since the function of the first trackconstituted by the pair i3 is to provide a continuous supply of fullcontainers for the machine. By way of example it will be assumed that,as shown, the rails 33 are long enough to hold four containers withnarrow spaces (not shown) between them. A conveyor, for example anendless belt or as shown a series of pawls l5 (Figures 2, 2B, 4 and 6)is arranged to move containers along the pair of rails is towards thetransverse rails i i and another conveyor which may be an endless chainit having one or more pushers ill (Figures 1 and 1A) on it is arrangedto move containers along the rails i l from the end of the pair of rails63 across to the end of the pair i. The conveyors are preferablymechanically driven, for instance by electric motors.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows:

The cigarette hopper is filled and, levelled and a full container isplaced at B2 on the first track, that is, the pair of rails 1 above thehopper and the bottom plate removed. Another full container is placed011 the second track, that is on the rails i l at position RE. The thirdtrack formed by the pair of rails l3 has four full containers placed onit and ahead of these is a fifth container, supported on the right handside of the second track or rails i l so that all the tracks are full tocapacity. When all the cigarettes from the full container P2 have falleninto the hopper the attendant pulls the lever This causes the succeedingcontainer PA to move from the rails I l on to the rails a and into thedischarging position R2 and push the empty one farther along the rails ito the removal position P3. The attendant takes the empty one off therails (l and puts it on a hook of the factory conveyor system ordisposes of it in any similar way. In normal continuous running theattendant puts the plate removed from one container into the precedingone, the plate from the first container of a day's run being put aside.

The action of pulling the lever 5 closes a switch 18 at the end of themovement as described in the next sentence and a motor l9 driving thetransverse conveyor 16 is started. The shaft ii has a further arm 20 onit which engages a push rod 2! and moves a lever 39 to operate theswitch to start the motor when the lever 5 is pulled. Thus unless thelever 5 is moved its full stroke the switch l8 does not close so nomovement of the mechanically fed containers can take place unless acontainer has been manually moved to the discharging position.

The pusher ll rides on a rail 22 which keeps the pusher upright so thatas soon as the rail finishes the pusher drops and ceases to move thecontainer. The pusher is not shown in its correct position which shouldbe against the left hand container but is shown where it can be seenmore easily. The section line VI-VI in Figure 1 is drawn to include thepusher in the sectional view Figure 6. Thus the right hand container onthe r" r of rails I4 is moved across to the position P.l ii. line withthe pair of rails 3. The motor is stopped by tripping the abovementionedswitch I8 when the movement is comleted as will now be explained.

As previously stated the containers are moved along the first trackformed by the rails l3 by pawls l5. These are pivoted in slides 23supported on rollers 24 and reciprocated by connecting rods 25. The rodsare pivoted to crank discs 26 and these are fixed on a shaft 21 which isdriven through compound reduction gearing at 32 by bevel gear wheels 28from a shaft 29 on which a sprocket wheel 30 of the conveyor I6 isfixed. The shaft 29 is geared to the motor by gear wheels 3|. When themotor is started by the switch l8 and the pusher I1 carries a containerfrom the right hand end of rails M to the left the pawls l5 move forwardto move the containers on the rails l3 a stage forward and take afurther container into the vacant position on rails ll caused by themovementof the preceding container to the left and when the movement isfinished a pawl or lug 33 on the left-hand, Figure 6, crank disc 26engages a collar 34 on the push rod II and the switch is operated tostop the motor. Further full containers may be added to those on therails l3 as and when necessary.

If the general layout of the apparatus is such that the abovearrangement will not suit, the conveyor l6 and pawls I5 may be driven byseparate motors and when the switch I8 is tripped to stop the motor l9 afurther switch is closed whereby another motor is started to drive thepawls or endless belt or other device for movin containers on the railsl3 and move the remaining containers on said rails a stage forward so ithat the leading container moves into line with the transverse rails.The motor is stopped when the movement is completed, by any suitableswitch. A further container may be placed on the second pair of rails tomake up the deficiency and the manner of doing this depends on thefactory layout. Thus if the first track is long enough, several freshcontainers may be added at comparatively long intervals.

The whole of the movements above described take place while thecontainer above the hopper is being emptied and are thus very slow whichallows the use of a very low powered motor.

The operation of the whole system is prevented unless a container isproperly positioned above the hopper for example by electricallyinterlocking the hand lever with the conveyor mechanism as abovedescribed.

A stop device shown only in Figure 5 is fitted where containers passfrom rails l3 to rails l4 so that a container cannot move across untilthere is room on the rails H to receive it. The stop consists of apivoted lever 35, Figure 5, which is pulled by a spring 36 into theposition shown in which case a container can pass. The movement cannottake place unless a pivoted detector 31 which is connected to the stoplever bya rod 38 is as shown on the drawing. As a container moves fromthe right hand position on the rails it towards its left hand positionit presses the detector and causes the stop lever to rotate clockwisesufficiently far to present a stop in the path of the containers on therails It. With this device an operator cannot move a container partly onto the rails l4 before there is proper room for it and thus the leadingcontainer on the rails It cannot be pushed askew on to rails I3. Theoperator can therefore add containers to rails IS without having toexercise any special care.

With any suitable known detecting device engaging the cigarettes in themachine hopper the whole of the operations above described could beeffected automatically and the attendants only duty would be to see thatsumcient containers were always present on the first track. However itis usual for the attendant to inspect the cigarettes while filling thehopper and probably semi-manual operation is preferable.

The system described enables the attendant to remove empty containersand provide fresh ones while standing in one position, in addition tothe normal duties previously described, for the attendant is facing boththe removal and supply positions and can cover the whole of the dutieswithout undue effort. The physical effort required to replenish thehopper is limited to the effort required to move one full and one emptycontainer only. On existing systems the attendant has to move all thefull containers each time more cigarettes are required in the hopper.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for feeding and supplying arti cles to a machine hopper,comprising a track system adapted to support containers filled with saidarticles above the level of the machine hopper, a track of said systembeing arranged to support a number of filled containers away from themachine, a second track leading from the delivery end of the first tracktoward the machine and to a third track located directly above themachine and leading toward and beyond a container discharging positionabove the hopper, manually operated devices for moving containers alongthe third track into and out of the discharging position, a motor foroperating conveyors associated with the other tracks for movingcontainers along them, a switch for the motor and a switch closingdevice operated by the movement of said manually operated devices forstarting the motor to set the conveyors into motion.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising an abutment on a partmoving in timed relationship with said conveyors and adapted to trip theswitch to stop the motor when the conveyor movement is completed.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a detector is provided on thesecond track and adapted to be engaged by a passing container to cause astop to be interposed in the path leading from the first track to thesecond track said stop being removed from said path when the first saidcontainer has passed by the detector.

' GEORGE DEARSLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,204,162 Smith et al June 11,1940 2,254,290 Joa Sept. 2, 1941 2,353,638 Beaulieu et a1 July 18, 19442,421,365 Patrick T May 27, 1947

